Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsEcho in the Canyon?
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2020
I am writing this review because I spent a lot of time trying to find more info on this device and found it hard to get the info I was looking for.
I am a budget audiophile that has a vintage silver faced Pioneer, a decent Kenwood turntable, solid speakers (newer Wharfedales) some Advents on the B and a nice Pioneer elite subwoofer hooked up by way of the tape out. I usually listen to vinyl records for anything that I really want some depth and dynamics on. A couple years ago I hooked up an Echo Dot to the AUX so I could stream music from my Amazon music account. However, I found I rarely used it because streaming music sounded really compressed and wasn’t really even worth it. The stream sounded like a cheap facsimile of the real thing. Then, a couple years ago Amazon started offering the HD streaming service. Every once in while I would stream stuff through the Dot and it sounded much better as the quality of the stream was much higher, however, the listening experience was still no match to a vinyl record.
I recently stumbled on the Echo Link and tried to figure out if it would be worth the expense, if it would make that big of a difference in sound. All I wanted to from this device was to stream in ultra hd through the analog RCA cables to my Pioneer. I do not have any need at this time for anything to be sent out the optical or coaxial output. If you do enough research, you will find that the digital out is limited in its output ability but the internal DAC for the analog out does stream in 24 bit, 192KHz, which was all I was hoping for.
Long story short, this has outperformed my expectations. I was hoping against hope it would sound as good as my vinyl records, as no streaming really even came close before. After a few hours doing some listening tests, I can say that the Echo Link actually sounds better than vinyl if it’s being streamed in ultra hd. The sound in ultra hd is extremely impressive, way better than I could have hoped for. Sound is always hard to explain, but full dynamics and range, immersive, great separation. Really brings out every nuance in the production of the music, from vocals to keyboards, drums, sounds like your in the engineering room for every album. For my system, it really helps to have a sub out in the Echo Link, as these old receivers don’t have a dedicated sub out. The bass is much more focused and clear/distinct than it is when I am listening to records.
There is quite a distinct listening drop off, at least on my system, from the ultra hd to the hd. I haven’t done extensive listening on a ton of hd recordings yet but the ones I did there was quite a drop off on sound quality, much thinner, less dynamic sound.
Overall, this is a game changer for anyone who is hoping to listen to music in high quality without breaking the bank. You would definitely want to get the Amazon HD music service. While having a Dot grouped with the Link is nice and convenient, truthfully it’s not that big of deal. I like using my Amazon music app on my phone and casting it to the Link to play music, it gives me more control of what is actually playing, volume, stop start with having to say anything over the music.
This is a MUST HAVE for anyone interested in high quality music streaming that doesn't already have something built in to their receiver or doesn't want to dole out $$$$$ for the higher priced streaming devices. I can’t believe it’s taken this long to put together a streaming service that is equal to or better quality than CD’s (Almost 20 years since cd’s ruled the roost), but better late than never!
